Semester Project Journal
Journals written throughout the project, one for each phase, that describe my chain of thought and view on how things will go, were going, and went, respectively. First Journal I’m really looking forward to beginning my semester project, making and editing a video. I’m excited that it involves one of my favorites game, as well as that it’ll teach me a new, hopefully useful skill that I’ll use later on. Of course, I hope it also teaches me how to focus, especially for long-term goals and projects, a trait that I, unfortunately, lack. I’ve already begun to work on my project, albeit barely. I found that my father had a capture card that I could use. Unfortunately, it was about six years old. When I tried to install the hardware into my computer, I only succeeded in causing my heart to skip a few beats, mostly because when I turned my desktop on following the installation, it couldn’t find the hard drive. Thankfully, I was able to completely rectify that problem. So far, that’s pretty much all I’ve done, aside from some brief research into buying another capture card and some Brawl techniques. In my proposal, I predicted the technical difficulties I had in trying to obtain a working capture card. Therefore, in that sense, yes, my results met my expectations. Once I’m able to obtain a capture card, I expect progress to speed up multiple fold, as from there on, I think I have everything planned out, at least as far as how I want the video to work and all that. I’ve played around with my video editing program, Sony Vegas, and tried, mildly successfully, to learn how it works and some ways I can edit. The project itself appears to me as both an opportunity as well as burden, the latter mostly because I’m naturally lazy and have a bad tendency to not go through on long term projects, especially if they’re related to school. I also see it, however, as an opportunity to learn some new skills and experience whatever I will when I finish. I’m looking forward to playing around with the video-editing and effects and all that. Overall, I hope this project teaches me some new skills and long-term focus while remaining fun and interesting. Second Journal My semester project, making and editing a video, is making steady, but slow, progress. I’m still excited about the entire idea of recording my own footage and editing it, but, as with any other project thus far, I’m experiencing various difficulties, the most prominent of which is that even if I tell myself that I’ll work when I get home, I’ll just end up putting it off again. I’m determined to overcome this irritating habit, and, in the process, making it so that the aspect of focus is no longer a weakness. I’ve successfully installed a capture card into my computer after numerous failures, one of which almost burned my hard drive. During my installation attempts, I discover my DVD drive was faulty, so I went and got a new one. I plan to next attempt to connect my Wii to my computer and start messing around with the display. Hopefully, I have the correct types of cables; otherwise, that means another trip to the store or another visit to newegg.com, the internet store where I buy most of my technological stuff. While I was waiting for my new DVD drive and to angry at the capture card to bother to try another installation, I researched, by watching and reading random internet tutorials and examples, various editing techniques for Sony Vegas 8, the program I’ll be using later on. I believe I know, at the very least, the basics of Sony Vegas, so I’m confident progress will speed up as soon as I get about to connecting my Wii to my computer. I have a general plan and storyboard for the video, and have ensured that I know how to do and utilize each Brawl technique. Essentially, I’ll go through the basic controls relatively quickly, then start with various “essential” techniques, such as short-hopping, direction influence, and teching, showing how-tos and examples of each. After that will be some concepts such as momentum canceling and chain grabbing. I plan to record some actual footage of a friend and myself actually having a match. Third Journal My semester project, creating and editing a video, ended up like any other project; put off until the end, then rushed. Even though I was willing, perhaps even excited, to do the project, I simply could not concentrate, begin, and continue. Each step, when I finally got around to it, took much too long. This project taught me that even if I am eager to do something, I only concentrate on what I truly believe is important to me in some way. If it is not, such as a school project, I will eventually get it done, but I will get distracted much along the way, and thus, not put my entire effort and focus into the endeavor. As such, my focus has not changed much. I am still the procrastinating, unfocused person that I was a few months ago, aside from the new knowledge about video editing. Despite the fact that I procrastinated, the project itself was still fun. Messing around with Sony Vegas, trying to capture specific moments and generate a certain feeling, provided a decent amount of entertainment. Recording, though a hassle (was forced to go from Wii to VCR to TV, then from VCR to computer), was not too much of a bore as well. As with other school projects, this one probably will not affect me with any lasting effect. I would even daresay I will have forgotten by it come summer, but eventually, I would remember it, fondly. It might cause, however, me to make other videos on other materials, now that I have the ability to. The greatest effect it might ever have in my life would be giving me a new hobby. Category:Kroova's Semester Project Category:Kroova's Semester Project Category:Kroova's Semester Project